Skip to main content

Parenting out of the Gospel, Part 3

By

How it looks when we parent out of the Gospel

What about you, the Christian parent? Do you feel that God loves you, or loves you more when you are obedient or self-controlled? Do you sense that he is more pleased with you when you successfully fight sin? Or do you ever feel like you have less of a right to go to him in prayer or song if you have done some bad things?  

“If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.” Psalm 130:3-4.

Parents, if you answered “yes” to any of the above questions it may reflect a desire to justify yourself (and your children) by the law. The bad news is that there is never a time that we have any right to fellowship with God based on the good we have done. The good news is that in Christ there is never a time we cannot fellowship with God, even when we sin and repent. God is the perfect parent who comes to his children on the basis of their sin and offers them forgiveness. Why? So that he would be feared. So that our hearts would melt and his love would transform them.  

Again, the main theme of the Bible is the work that Christ has done on our behalf. The good news of the gospel does not lead us to keep the checklist of holiness so that we might be acceptable to God. Instead, the Gospel leads us to embrace the areas we have failed so that we can ultimately embrace the one who has not failed, Jesus Christ. As we live in the grace and forgiveness of Jesus, his love transforms us. As we embrace Jesus, God is pleased with him and he is pleased with us, in that order.

Give Them Grace is a fitting title to this book because it highlights the first priority in parenting. If our parenting is truly shaped by the gospel of Jesus, we recognize that our children cannot live up to any standard of holiness, rather, they constantly need to be affirmed and accepted in their inability to please God. Accepting our children for who they really are (lawbreakers) is giving them grace. And grace is meant to lead them to repentance and faith in Jesus, the one who kept the rules for them, the one who is able to transform them through his love.

So lets go back to Jonah. It is wrong to conclude that the application of the story was that “we should obey God or else we will be punished.” What would a Gospel-centered application be? How about this: “we too are like Jonah who does not want to obey God. We too are like the Ninevites who need to be forgiven even though they don’t deserve it. God is so kind and merciful to us he sent his only son to die on the cross and spend three days in a very dark place, in the grave. He did this to pay for our sins. But then he rose from the dead so that he would make us good and we could go and tell others about how loving he is.” (Adapted from Give Them Grace, 37-38)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Worship Songs, October 15, 2017

By
We post these worship songs leading up to the worship service so that parents may listen to them in the house or in the car within the days leading up to the worship service. Our hope is that children will hear the songs prior to and it will prepare them to participate in worship on Sunday mornings. My Redeemers Love Hope Has Come I Will Glory In My Redeemer Blessed Be Your Name Here In Your Presence Your Glory Be Still My Soul (In You I Rest) -- Sermon Text: John 11:1-16 That the next generation will set their hope in God and not forget the works of God (Psalm 78:7).
Post a Comment
Read more

God Displays His Beauty While Lifting Heavy Burdens by Pastor Kevin

By
I know I am a little bit overweight. My doctor tells me so. The mirror that I look into affirms it and the scale (that I mostly avoid) reminds me every time I step on it. All of that makes what I am about to say so much more impressive. I had the privilege of sitting on the beaches of Florida's Atlantic coast for 8 days on our most recent family trip. For me there is something magical about the beach, especially on the Atlantic side with the waves washing up against the shoreline. We have been lucky enough to find a sleepy beach town to vacation at. A nook, if you will, that typically features retired folks or families with kids. Out of the way of those who want to party, the beach is truly a relaxing place for me.  Let me tell you something that I gleaned this time around that never quite landed on me. This last week it landed on me, almost literally. My son Ben and I are the more adventurous specimens in the Feder five. We actually get into the salty water where there are jelly f...
2 comments
Read more

We Will Feast in the House of Zion by Patience Griswold

By Anonymous
No one ever plans to have their lives upended. We know that the world is broken and bound in futility, we know that everything can change in an instant, and yet crises still have the ability to shake us to our core. None of us entered 2020 planning to experience a global pandemic this year, but here we are, practicing social distancing, wondering how the virus will affect us and our families, and wondering when we will be able to return to our regular rhythms and routines as what can feel a little like the world falling apart around us.  In the midst of social distancing, I miss my church family. I miss my Bible study, the kids in my Sunday school class, the ability to meet people for coffee, and I know that I am not alone in this. It is not wrong to grieve the temporary loss of these things. In fact, we ought to grieve, even as we seek to live joyfully and find satisfaction in Christ in the midst of difficult circumstances. If we feel no grief whatsoever over the loss of some...
1 comment
Read more